Mother TV

Television generally does a good job in reporting on the weather even though some people believe it’s overkill. The television stations use multiple reporters to report on the weather from many locations in their coverage area.

To have that kind of coverage is expensive and an important public service.

What bothers some people is the mother-type preaching about how to cope with the weather. What percentage of the viewers need that advice? The majority of people have enough common sense to know what to wear outside when it’s very cold. They don’t need advice on what to wear, like a mother telling her child to put on a jacket, “It’s cold outside.”

Driving conditions are something else. Television does a good job of reporting on driving conditions on roads. They also alert people to accidents that cause delays.

Schools closing due to the weather is another important service of television. Other cancellations also are reported.

We are aware there are people who lack common sense, but they are not going to pay attention to a newscaster telling them to dress accordingly for the weather challenge.

All of this is not that big a deal, why write about it? The answer is because the simpleton advice given often is annoying.

Maybe we are out of touch and the motherly advice given is needed in today’s world. We know the family unit is broken in many instances. Sometimes no motherly advice is given because mother is not there. We’d bet that most grandmothers who are raising children have the common sense to give good advice.

We aren’t condemning television. It has great public service value. It’s just that some of the TV reporters, many of them inexperienced, do not give credit for the common sense the majority of people have.